Thursday, January 26, 2012

Please come on over to Heather Haven's This and That Blog. I am her guest author today. Heather asks some questions that made me think. I wonder if I revealed too much? What a pleasure to be a guest at Heather's. See ya' there!

Monday, January 23, 2012

I contributed an article, The Empty Page, to the information-packed site for authors, Savvy Authors. The front page features articles from real writers offering advice on the craft of writing, the writing life, publishing, editing, etc. There is something for everyone. What's the old adage? "You're never too old to learn!!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Coffee...you either love it or hate it. I finally began enjoying coffee when I was in my first year of teaching third grade. It was the only thing to drink in the teacher's lounge. I loaded it up with cream. (My husband drinks his that way) and it was palatable. The hot drink went well with my bologna sandwich.

I now enjoy coffee. (But it is so much more enjoyable with a hunk of chocolate cake). The caffeine gives me a pop in the morning. By mid-afternoon I NEED a hit of caffeine again. Sigh...How about you? I enjoy it the most when sitting with friends and sharing in coversation over a hot steaming, creamy cup of Java.

On How Stuff Works, a TV program, I learned all about coffee, espresso, and poop coffee. Yep. A weasel-like animal in Columbia eats the coffee bean and then poops it out. The feces is gathered, and CLEANED, and made into coffee for $400 a pound!!

I can just picture people following the weasel through the jungle with a pooper-scooper like the folks who follow the horses in parades down Main St. No wonder this is expensive coffee. You'd have to pay someone a lot of money to do this!!

Are you a coffee drinker? If so, why? If not, why not? Leave a comment to let us know. Just for fun, vote in the coffee poll in the sidebar at the right. Thanks!

Monday, January 16, 2012

FREE E-books! I know it sounds like a come on, but this is a valid program through the Amazon Kindle library. Author Ginger Simpson shared the information on the Muse Authors loop.

I already downloaded four books....mostly self-help, so far. You can download anything that sounds interesting to you for free, but if you don't like it, just delete it. If you subscribe to the service, you will receive the list of available e-books in your e-mail inbox.

I always wonder why. What's the point of giving away an e-book? I believe it is purely a promotional reason. First, amazon gets a lot of traffic and more exposure to their product resulting in more sales in the store. I'm sure the author hopefully "sells" a book hoping the reader will like the offering and return to spend real money on one of her books to gain a reader for all the present and future books in her list.

So it sounds as if we all win with such a promotion. Incidentally there are not just a few books for free. There are over 2000 at this writing. I'm sure there will be one or more you might like to get. Hey, it's free!! Have fun.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Like a lot of you, I am into the New Year's re-organizing state of mind. I decided to open my recipe boxes and clear out the recipes I don't use. Now mind you, the box on the left was given to me with a few recipes included for a bridal shower about forty years ago. (You may see how my daughter "decorated" it for me when she was a little girl.)

The collection has grown so I had to buy another index card box to hold the "new" additions. The boxes include only the recipes I have on index cards. I have an entire folder of them on my laptop and stashed in a real live folder that holds full sheets of papers run off from the Internet.

I began looking through, I mean actually looking and reading the recipes in there. They are precious to me. I have recipes from my grandmother, Maw, and recipes in my mother's handwriting, as well as the scribbles from our daughters' recipes from 4-H or Scouts. Each one reminds me of those times when I shared these foods with the ones I love. I decided to close the boxes up and keep ALL of them. Some day I may transfer them to a computer file, but not today. Sorting through the memories, I just want to wrap a cozy blanket of nostalgia around me.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Are you KIDDING ME? I WON an award?? What??? How amazing. I am so honored to have the Liebster Blog Award bestowed on me from one of my most favorite authors, Roseanne Dowell. Thank you so much. (I think she gave it to me because we share a birthday in May. Yep, we could have been twins, that is, um, if we had the same mom and dad and if we were born in the same year and in the same location.)

So what's the fuss about? Let me explain. The intention of the award is to draw attention to blogs that deserve more.If you're curious about the name, liebster is German for "favorite" or "dearest."

My instructions, since I gladly accept this award, are:

1. Post this award on your blog.

2. Thank and link to the person who gave it to you.

3. Pass it on to five bloggers who have less than 200 followers. (Yes, I definitely qualify for this...)

4. Comment on those five people's blogs to share the good news.

I hereby present the Liebster Blog Award to the following bloggers:

Joylene Nowell Butler--Joylene reaches out to her readers from cyberspace with a warm welcome and draws them in. It must be those gorgeous photos as well as her writing that keeps us hooked.

W.S. Gager-- For many years, mystery author Wendy has been a cheerleader for my writing and such an inspiration to keep writing. She has an eagle eye when reading a manuscript and thoughtful suggestions for making it better.

Tess Grant--Tess' first YA book will be released this spring from Turquoise Morning Press. She is a true storyteller. Her blog is written as thoughtfully and entertaining as her stories. She also opens her blog to a young writer every Tuesday.

Jane Richardson--Jane and I met when she was a guest author on my blog. It was so much fun dealing with the English language and the American language. Get the one - link - low - down on her blog.

Joselyn Vaughn-- This warm, witty writer blogs about her family life (3 year old twins, 1 year old daughter and husband and dogs. and, you can imagine) and pens sweet romance books that make the reader laugh and cry.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Like many of you, we decided to go on a diet to "celebrate" the beginning of the New Year. We vowed to cut back on our eating to lose, at least, the pounds we added over the holidays...rolling eyes...So does anyone have any advice to help us along on this journey?

In my research for dieting, I have discovered so many contrary ideas:

Eat, low-fat foods - Be sure to include saturated fatDo not use artificial sweeteners - Use sugar, Do not eat or drink any "diet" foods - Buy "diet" foods to help keep the calorie count low, Count calories - Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you want and don't worry about calories.

Huh? Can you see me throwing up my hands? So this week I have tried to use common sense watching my portion size and eating plain food like veggie sticks, clear soup, (the Weight Watchers Soup on Dr. Oz show is delicious!), and taking time to savor a mouthful of food instead of slurping it down while watching TV or racing off to the next thing.

If you are trying to cut down this January or for the rest of your life, I wish you well. Just know you are not alone. We are all struggling to be good. And IF you do fall off the wagon, (okay I snuck a piece of cake at the computer club meeting on Thursday night, but do NOT tell my hubby), don't beat yourself up over it. Just keep on workin' at it and soon good eating and sugar cravings will be a part of your past.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

I must confess. We started the New Year with our final meal...er, that is the final meal at the Golden Corral. We swear that tomorrow we will not come back again because we will be watching our diet and not ever indulge in such a decadent bout of overeating again. (You can almost see the halo over our head shining through the grease engorged air of the restaurant.)

The Golden Corral is a restaurant you either love or hate. My husband and our neighbor love GC because we can get a TON of food for such a reasonable cost. So to celebrate the New Year, we decided to splurge at the trough--again for one last time before carrying out our resolution to go on a diet and lose x amount of pounds.

If you have never been to GC, let me explain. We drive around and around the parking lot to find the place closest to the door. Usually the lot is packed especially before 4 pm when the Seniors can get their Early Bird discounted dinners, then eat slowly so they can still be eating at 4:30 pm when all the extra food comes out for the dinner hour...steaks, fish, shrimp, etc. We have to settle for a parking spot quite a ways from the door, but decide it will be an opportunity for us to exercise a bit by having to waddle back to the car when we are finished stuffing ourselves.

We usually race in the door before 4 pm during the week for the special pricing, but because New Year's falls on a Sunday this year, we paid twice as much as usual and splurged purchasing sweet tea instead of taking a free glass of water...an extra $4. for the two of us. However, it is a holiday, New Year's, and my hubby received a gift card from our daughter and family for Christmas, so I guess that's why we actually ordered the iced tea...

After paying at the cash register with the gift card, we entered the dining room for the full view of the enormous buffet piled with everything a person could ever want to eat and plenty more. (Can you hear the angels singing and picture our eyes open wide in amazement at the spread displayed beautifully before us?) The colorful fruit and veggies, gorgeous meats and fish, and tons of sweets including a chocolate fountain for dipping plump red strawberries and chunks of pineapple are like a banquet set for a king. Well except there is no china, silver, and crystal. But who cares? We grab the stainless steel and melamine plate and we're good to go!

Mouth watering, we search for a table close to the food but far away from the crowd...this is an impossible task, so we settle for one at the far end of the dining room against a back wall. The chairs and table are so close to the wall we can barely pull out a chair to sit in. Well perhaps it will be a deterrent to over eating because I will be wedged in by a fat belly caught between the table and the wall. Then I realize this is doubtful since I purposely wore my elastic band pants so I could stuff myself and my waist band could stretch to make room. If I bloat too large, I reason that my hubby can pull the table away from the wall to let me out.

We all trip off to the food bar with empty plates to fill. I bypass the salad table because we have a garden full of lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage. For sure I don't want to pay for what I have at home for free. Besides I want all the grease and carbs that are laid out in front of me since I will be giving them up for the rest of my life after this meal.

There are so many opinions on the food at GC...tasty or nasty. Truthfully, the one here offers a variety of delicious foods that are fresh and prepared well. Many people tell me the pan-fried shrimp and steaks are as good as a steakhouse. As I think about that, the people telling me this are my husband and neighbor.

I finish off the stomach-stuffing, lip-smacking event with desserts and a small bowl of ice cream. I figure the ice cream can melt and run down to fill in any empty openings in my stomach.

As we all waddle back to the car, we agree the meal was delicious and satisfying, but it will be the last one at Golden Corral. As we say our good-byes, we all know we are lying. We will be back. Who actually carries through with a New Year resolution anyway?

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Writing, publishing, marketing. and reading are my favorite topics for the J.Q. Rose blog. My first e-book, Sunshine Boulevard, was released by Muse It Up Publishing in 2011. You can imagine how many things have changed in the world of writing and reading since then. Deadly Undertaking, from Books We Love, is now available and a third mystery will be available soon. Check out my Amazon Author Page and the tab above entitled My Books to discover more eBooks by J.Q. Rose. You may be surprised at the topics! Let's try and keep up with this amazing industry and all the good books available by sharing with each other.